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architecture and design magazineSun, 02 Aug 2015 21:49:42 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2Moooi opens New York showroom to target booming US design markethttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/02/movie-moooi-opens-new-york-showroom-targets-booming-us-design-market/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/02/movie-moooi-opens-new-york-showroom-targets-booming-us-design-market/#commentsThu, 02 Jul 2015 13:33:04 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=731747Extra Moooi: Dutch brand Moooi launched its first US showroom in May. In this movie, co-founder Marcel Wanders explains how the company hopes to tap into a new generation of "design-savvy" American consumers. "I think the timing is really good," Wanders says in the movie. "Not only is the economy in the States doing really […]

]]>Extra Moooi: Dutch brand Moooi launched its first US showroom in May. In this movie, co-founder Marcel Wanders explains how the company hopes to tap into a new generation of "design-savvy" American consumers.

"I think the timing is really good," Wanders says in the movie. "Not only is the economy in the States doing really well, but the openness for sophisticated design has grown."

America's burgeoning appreciation for luxury design has come from the country's start-up culture, Wanders goes on to claim.

"If you think about all the new, young companies, they're all really design-savvy," he says. "So the whole understanding of what design can really do for you as a person or as a business has changed in the United States. I think that makes a huge impression."

He adds: "We've been seeing our business grow really fast over recent years in the US, so I think this is the right moment for us here."

Moooi's new showroom is situated in Midtown Manhattan, in a neighbourhood known as NoMad (north of Madison Square Park).

Rents are more affordable here than elsewhere in the city, but the area is steadily becoming more upmarket. Wanders believes more European design brands will soon start opening stores nearby.

"It's not too full here and the rents are acceptable for our type of business," Wanders explains. "We feel that there is traction in this area for other companies to come over and help us make this a place that will zoom design all around."

It was an easy decision for Moooi to open its first US showroom in New York, Wanders says.

"New York is kind of the centre of the design world in the United States," he explains. "We are happy to go to Los Angeles and San Francisco and Miami later."

Wanders believes that the variety of different styles found across Moooi's range of products puts the brand in a strong position to cater to different tastes across America.

"It is clear to me more and more that the design aesthetic in New York is different, in San Francisco it's different, in Miami it's different," he says. "Moooi is a very eclectic brand — it has lots of different sides. We are going to investigate and find out what things are more likely to be important for people here."

He continues: "That's also why we want a store. We want to shake people's hands, understand what they like and what they don't like and see if together we can build this brand to be the perfect brand for New York."

Moooi co-founder Marcel Wanders. Copyright: Dezeen

This movie was filmed at the joint launch of Moooi's new showroom and Dezeen's US office in New York. The music featured is a track called Saint Jean by UK producer Jo Noon.

The movie is part of our year-long Extra Moooi collaboration, which will see us working with Moooi in Milan, New York, London and Amsterdam to get under the skin of the brand, its products and designers. Read all the stories at www.dezeen.com/moooi.

"I think what Moooi has been doing from the beginning is to create a buzz," Wanders says in the movie. "We try to be interesting."

"Half of the settings are environments you can imagine to be a little bit of a home and the other half are more artistic," he adds. "It's kind of two exhibitions simultaneously and for us it's a nice way to show our work."

"The works we do in Moooi are very diverse, very eclectic," Wanders says. "That's how we like it."

Marcel Wanders, Moooi co-founder

This movie was filmed at Moooi's Unexpected Welcome exhibition in Milan, which was at Via Savona 56 from 14 to 19 April.

The movie is part of our year-long Extra Moooi collaboration, which will see us working with Moooi in Milan, New York, London and Amsterdam to get under the skin of the brand, its products and designers. Read all the stories at www.dezeen.com/moooi.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/04/21/movie-marcel-wanders-moooi-milan-show-huge-photographs-live-music-giant-unicorn-rocking-horse/feed/1Moooi unveils 2015 furniture and homeware collectionhttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/04/10/moooi-unveils-latest-furniture-homeware-collection-milan-2015-marcel-wanders-studio-job-bertjan-pot/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/04/10/moooi-unveils-latest-furniture-homeware-collection-milan-2015-marcel-wanders-studio-job-bertjan-pot/#commentsFri, 10 Apr 2015 18:35:15 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=677286Extra Moooi: a paper lamp by Studio Job and a unicorn rocking horse by Marcel Wanders are among the new products that will be revealed by Dutch brand Moooi in Milan next week (+ slideshow). Dutch designer Marcel Wanders, who is also the brand's co-founder, has created a number of new products. The Charles Chair will be available […]

]]>Extra Moooi: a paper lamp by Studio Job and a unicorn rocking horse by Marcel Wanders are among the new products that will be revealed by Dutch brand Moooi in Milan next week (+ slideshow).Charles Chair by Marcel Wanders

Dutch designer Marcel Wanders, who is also the brand's co-founder, has created a number of new products.

The Charles Chair will be available with cushions upholstered in different primary colours – reminiscent of the paintings of Dutch De Stijl painter Piet Mondrian.

Space-Frame by Marcel Wanders

Wanders' Space-Frame lamp consists of a horizontal grid frame with small lights at each intersection. It is described by the brand as "a cable-less triumph of architectural lightness and adaptability" and hangs on a hinge that allows it to move in space.

Power Nap by Marcel Wanders

New products by Wanders' also include the long Power Nap sofa, which has a separate upholstered back and seat elements, as well as Arion, a large wooden rocking horse featuring a silver unicorn head, saddle and stirrups.

Arion by Marcel Wanders

Arion will be available in a limited edition, as will seven unique versions of Wanders' quilted Monster Chair, which feature cartoon faces on their backs.

Container Table by Marcel Wanders

Moooi is also releasing an updated series of Wanders' Container tables in a range of heights and surface dimensions, which feature tapered bases surrounded by vertical wooden slats.

Statistocrat Floor Lamp by Atelier Van Lieshout

New pieces by other designers include a lamp with cylindrical shades that branch from a vertical metal pole by Rotterdam-based Atelier Van Lieshout.

Throughout the year we'll be working with Moooi in Milan, New York, London and Amsterdam, getting under the skin of the brand, its products and designers as part of our Extra Moooi collaboration. There'll be movies, interactive slideshows, competitions and more. All the content will be posted at www.dezeen.com/moooi.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/04/10/moooi-unveils-latest-furniture-homeware-collection-milan-2015-marcel-wanders-studio-job-bertjan-pot/feed/1Moooi co-founders buy remaining stake from B&B Italiahttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/28/moooi-buys-remaining-stake-from-bb-italia-marcel-wanders-casper-vissers/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/28/moooi-buys-remaining-stake-from-bb-italia-marcel-wanders-casper-vissers/#commentsWed, 28 Jan 2015 15:27:43 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=636858Business news: designer Marcel Wanders and entrepreneur Casper Vissers have regained complete control of Dutch design brand Moooi, buying the remaining 25 per cent of the company they co-founded in 2001. Wanders and Vissers have completed the purchase of the stake from B&B Italia, ending a relationship that started in 2006, when the Italian brand acquired 50 […]

]]>Business news: designer Marcel Wanders and entrepreneur Casper Vissers have regained complete control of Dutch design brand Moooi, buying the remaining 25 per cent of the company they co-founded in 2001.

Wanders and Vissers have completed the purchase of the stake from B&B Italia, ending a relationship that started in 2006, when the Italian brand acquired 50 per cent of Moooi.

Moooi, which produces luxury furniture, lighting and accessories by a growing stable of international designers, quadrupled its revenues during the collaboration with B&B Italia, and it is understood that Wanders and Vissers felt their brand was now mature enough to become fully independent.

"The synergy between B&B Italia and Moooi, under the full management of Vissers and Wanders, worked out very well," said Moooi in a statement. "During this fruitful and meaningful eight-year collaboration, Moooi grew from €6 million (£4.5 million) revenue in 2006 to €23 million (£17 million) revenue in 2014."

The company added that B&B Italia's chairman Giorgio Busnelli and chief financial officer Paola Centemero played "a key role in Moooi's growth". Moooi products were displayed in B&B Italia's showrooms during the collaboration.

Wanders, who is Moooi's art director and chief designer, and Vissers, the brand's CEO, did equity deals with both B&B Italia and Dutch brand Lensvelt in order to fund growth. They became majority shareholders once again in 2012, when they purchased the remaining 10 per cent held by Lensvelt and half of the 50 per cent owned by B&B Italia. This left Wanders and Vissers with combined holdings of 75 per cent.

Moooi, which is based in Breda in the Netherlands and has a flagship store in Amsterdam, plans to open a major store in New York this year, followed by a central London flagship in 2016.

Moooi is named after the Dutch word for beautiful, mooi, but with an extra o that "stands for an extra value in terms of beauty and uniqueness". Best-selling products from the brand include the Random Light by Bertjan Pot, the Raimond lamp by Raimond Puts and the Smoke chair and chandelier, which are mass-produced siblings of Maarten Baas's burned Smoke pieces.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/28/moooi-buys-remaining-stake-from-bb-italia-marcel-wanders-casper-vissers/feed/1Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Knotted Chair by Marcel Wandershttp://www.dezeen.com/2014/12/11/a-zdvent-calendar-knotted-chair-marcel-wanders-cappellini/
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/12/11/a-zdvent-calendar-knotted-chair-marcel-wanders-cappellini/#commentsThu, 11 Dec 2014 06:00:52 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=610368Marcel Wanders' 1996 Knotted Chair, which marked the Dutch designer's international breakthrough, is the next iconic seat design in our A-Zdvent calendar for this year. Marcel Wanders, now one of the world's best-known designers, created the seat by knotting lengths of synthetic rope around a carbon frame and coating the form in epoxy resin. Once […]

"Not only for ecological reasons, but also for getting the best out of a product so people will just want to have it forever."

He designed the piece while working with Dutch collective Droog and presented it as part of the group's 1996 Dry Tech I project – its fourth exhibition in Milan – which received a huge number of visitors.

"On the opening day enormous crowds gathered and the police had to be called in to control the traffic outside the building," said Droog's website.

Droog collaborated with the Aviation and Space Laboratory at Delft University of Technology on Dry Tech to develop designs using high-tech materials.

At the time, aramid and carbon fibres were not commonly available to product designers. Wanders' braided these to create a macramé-like pattern that evokes Droog's handcrafted aesthetic.

Italian furniture brand Cappellini manufactured 1000 editions of the Knotted Chair before it ceased production of the design in 2011.

The chair is listed in the permanent collections of a number of prominent design museums, including the Stedelijk, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the V&A museum in London.

After receiving global attention for the Knotted Chair, Wanders went on to co-found design label Moooi in 2001, and work on products and interiors within his own studio Powerhouse.